Thank You
by OwenHarpersGirl
Summary: What would've happened if Daryl found Sophia? Could be seen as Caryl relationship or Caryl friendship. One-shot


Thank You

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**The Walking Dead**_** nor am I affiliated in any way**

"Sophia!" Daryl shouted as he walked through the forest. He had been out here for hours, searching for the little girl. None of the others had come with him. Again.  
"Who needs 'em? Bunch a pricks given' up on this lil girl," he said to himself. "I'll find 'er without 'em." He continued, crossbow at the ready.  
"Sophia!" he shouted again. He knew with all the noise he was making that every walker in the vicinity could hear him. But he hoped that also meant Sophia could hear him.  
"Sophia! It's Daryl! Come on out girl! Sophia! I'm gonna bring ya back ta yer momma! Sophia!" He shouted her name over and over, killing a couple walkers along the way, but there was no sign of the little girl. He continued walking for another half hour before he growled I frustration and leaned against a tree.  
"SOPHIA!" he screamed, collapsing against the base of the tree and closing his eyes.  
"Mr. Daryl?"  
Daryl shot up and looked around. He could've sworn he had heard…  
"Mr. Daryl?" He had! That was Sophia!  
"Sophia!" he called, quieter this time.  
"Up here," the quiet voice came again and Daryl looked up. There, in the tree he had been leaning on, was Sophia. How had he missed her? At this point Daryl didn't care. He had found her.  
"Sophia," he said, "Man, I been lookin' for ya for days. Come down, let's get ya back to yer momma."  
"I can't," she said.  
"Ye can't what?" he called back up to her.  
"I can't get down. My foot's stuck," she gestured and, sure enough, he saw her foot was trapped between two branches.  
"A'right, hang on," he said and, putting his crossbow on his back, he started ascending the tree. When he finally reached her he couldn't help but be impressed.  
"Ya climbed pretty high," he told her.  
"I had to," Sophia replied, "There were walkers and I couldn't fight them."  
"Well, ya did good, climbin' up here," Daryl said, "An' when we get back ta yer momma I'll talk ta her about teachin' ya ta protect yerself."  
"Really?' Sophia said.  
"Ye need ta know how," Daryl nodded, finally freeing the girl's foot. "Now, c'mon." They climbed down the tree and Daryl began leading the way back to the farm. As they walked, Sophia slipped her small hand into his larger one. He stiffened for a moment, glancing down at her, but didn't pull his hand away. She stumbled slightly and he tightened his grip on her.  
"Ye a'right?" he asked.  
"Yeah," Sophia nodded, "Tired."  
"When was the las' time ya slept? Or ate?"  
"Don't know," the girl shrugged and Daryl realized just how pale and thin she appeared to be. She stumbled again and he sighed. Sophia probably hadn't eaten in days, she was exhausted. He sighed again and then lifted her into his arms.  
"You don't have to carry me Mr. Daryl," Sophia said, but she had already relaxed her head against his shoulder.  
"Daryl," he said, "I ain't no mister. And I'm carryin' ya before ya fall over again." She giggled and nodded.  
"Thank you Daryl," she said softly. The rest of the walk back to the farm was quiet and seemed to take much shorter than it had when he was walking alone.  
"There it is," Daryl said as the farm came into view.  
"Momma's there?" Sophia asked, lifting her head sleepily.  
"Yep," Daryl said, "She's gonna be damn pleased ta see ya." As they got closer to the farm Daryl could see Dale on top of the RV. He heard a faint shout and knew the man must have called for the others.  
"Hey Carol!" Daryl called, "Got someone tha' wants ta see ya!"  
"Sophia!" Carol shouted and ran down the porch steps. She raced towards the hunter and her daughter, the others right behind her. When they were only a few feet away Daryl set Sophia back on her feet and she stumbled into her mother's arms. Carol collapsed onto the ground, sobbing as she held her daughter close.  
"Momma," the little girl buried her face in her mother's neck as she cried.  
"Oh Sophia," Carol said, "I was so worried."  
The group watched them, all looking relieved. Even Herschel and his family had come outside and were smiling at them.  
"Momma, Daryl saved me," Sophia said, pulling back slightly.  
Carol looked up at him and smiled through her tears. "Thank you," she choked out. Daryl nodded awkwardly at her; he was aware everyone was staring at him and could feel the colour rising in his cheeks.  
"You did it," Rick said and Daryl looked at him, "You found her."  
"Said I would, didn't I?" Daryl said and then turned on his heel and walked towards his tent. He flopped down on his sleeping bag and closed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted.

WALKINGDEADWALKINGDEADWALKINGDEADWALKINGDEADWALKING

He awoke several hours later to someone speaking outside his tent.  
"Daryl?" the small voice called and he sat up, groaning. Reaching over, he unzipped the tent flap and pulled it aside to see Sophia standing there.  
"Ya a'right kid?" he asked.  
"Yeah, momma saved you some dinner," Sophia told him.  
"A'right, I'm comin'" Daryl crawled out of his tent and got to his feet. Sophia gripped his hand again and led him over to where their fire was burning low.  
"Where's everyone?" he asked. Carol looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at him.  
"Sleeping," she replied.  
"It's that late?' Daryl asked in surprise.  
"It is," Carol nodded, "Everyone ate and turned in already. You've had a long couple days so we figured we'd let you sleep, but Sophia was worried about you going hungry if we didn't wake you at some point."  
"Thanks," Daryl said, sitting down and taking the bowl of soup she offered him. Sophia sat next to him and Daryl wasn't really sure what to say so they sat in relative silence until the girl started falling asleep, leaning right on Daryl. Carol could see he was a little lost on what to do so she stood and told her daughter it was time for bed.  
Sophia got to her feet, but then leaned down to hug Daryl If he had felt awkward when she held his hand, it was nothing to how he felt now.  
"Thank you for saving me Daryl," Sophia said and Daryl nodded, grunting slightly. Sophia straightened up and followed her mother into their tent. Daryl assumed they had both gone to bed so he was surprised when Carol came back out to sit across from him at the fire.  
"Daryl I want to thank you," Carol said.  
"Ye a'ready did," he replied.  
"No, I mean properly. I couldn't say everything I wanted to before because I could tell you were already embarrassed about everyone staring at you," Carol said and Daryl ducked his head. "Daryl, I owe you everything. My marriage to Ed was hell. I mean, it literally too the world ending for me to get away from him. But I don't regret it because I got Sophia from that. He is my whole world Daryl and I thought I had lost her. But you saved her. You never gave up, even when everyone told you to. And I don't know how I'm ever going to repay you for that."  
Daryl was silent for a moment. "You don't hafta repay me for nothin'" he finally said, "Ya don't owe me nothin'. I looked for her cause she's a lil girl. She's yer lil girl and I couldn't let anythin' happen ya her."  
"Why?" Carol asked, "Why was it so important to you? Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful, but why?"  
"Dunno," he shrugged, "Jus' knew I couldn't let anything happen ta her or you. Ye said I was just as good as the rest of 'em and… I dunno…" Even in the dim firelight Carol could see his struggle and decided not to push him anymore. She stood and walked over, crouching down next to him. He turned to face her and she reached a hand out, placing it gently on his shoulder. She didn't miss the way he flinched and knew exactly why it had been so important to him to find her daughter. She leaned over kissed his forehead, same way she had when he got shot.  
"Thank you," she said again before standing and walking into her tent, leaving Daryl with his thoughts.

**Thanks for reading! If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes (not Daryl's dialogue) I apologize. I won't have my laptop back until hopefully next week so until then I'm typing on a keyboard that sticks and the Word program is a lot different than the version I use. I tried spellchecking so I hope I got all the mistakes, but if not I apologize!**

**Thanks so much for reading! I'm currently working on a longer **_**Walking Dead**_** fanfic and there's a poll on my profile for it. So, if you're interested maybe go check it out? Thanks! Let me know what you think!**


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